War and revolution forced Kouichoy Saechao to flee his native Laos more than 20 years ago.

Yesterday, the 43-year-old refugee watched solemnly as Buddhist priests sprinkled rice and salt on a small patch of land in Oakland where he and other members of his Iu Mien tribe, including 8,000 now living in the Bay Area, hope to build a place they can call their own.

The ritual to drive away evil spirits from the run-down parcel on 105th Avenue, near the San Leandro border, marked the start of construction of the first Iu Mien cultural center in the United States.

"It's still a long way to go for our people," said Saechao, who was 19 when he escaped from Laos in 1975 and is now board president of the Lao Iu Mien Cultural Association. "Our priority is to have a place to call home."

The Iu Mien are one of several Laotian tribes whose members helped U.S. forces in the fight against the communists before being forced to flee after the guerrillas took power. Most members of the tribe living in the Bay Area live in Oakland, where they struggle with poverty, drug abuse and truancy among their youth.

Because they're a small minority, they also end up being virtually invisible.

"It was a real culture shock," said Moung Saetern, who was 14 when she arrived in the United States in 1980. "We came from the mountains and then we were in the city."

The $2 million project hopes to change that by building a temple and a community center on the 27,000-square-foot site. The center, part of which is expected to be open in April, would seek to promote and preserve the Iu Mien language and culture.

"It's hard for people to understand who we are because we don't even have a country," said Seng Fong, 28. "That's why this center is important."

Fong was 8 years when she and her parents arrived in the United States but grew up being exposed to her culture. But she said other Iu Mien youths, especially those who were born in the United States, are too Americanized.

"They don't really know about their culture and they don't really learn about it," she said, adding that the center would create youth programs to help fill this need.

Saetern, executive director of the Lao Iu Mien Cultural Association, said the center is also for their elderly.

In Laos, they were seen as wise leaders. But as refugees in the United States, where they were unable to speak English and unfamiliar with their new country's ways, their role and stature have been diminished. They have ended up depending on the younger Iu Mien to survive.

Kouichoy Saechao's father, Foo Saechao, led more than 100 members of his tribe through the jungle and across the Mekong River to escape from Laos. Eleven of his companions died.

When he and his wife, Chaiseng, arrived in San Francisco, they felt lost and isolated.

"It was depressing," he said.

"We could not communicate and I stayed mainly at home," his wife added. "We're happy with this center. We've never had anything like this before."

For Kouichoy Saechao, yesterday's ground-breaking was the fulfillment of a longtime goal.

He was a student at a school sponsored by the Central Intelligence Agency, he said, when he was forced to leave Laos. After spending more than two years in a refugee camp, he was among the first Iu Mien refugees to arrive in California in 1978 and he eventually became one of their leaders.

"It's hard for people to understand who we are because we don't even have a country," said Seng Fong, 28. "That's why this center is important."

Fong was 8 years when she and her parents arrived in the United States but grew up being exposed to her culture. But she said other Iu Mien youths, especially those who were born in the United States, are too Americanized.

"They don't really know about their culture and they don't really learn about it," she said, adding that the center would create youth programs to help fill this need.

Saetern, executive director of the Lao Iu Mien Cultural Association, said the center is also for their elderly.

In Laos, they were seen as wise leaders. But as refugees in the United States, where they were unable to speak English and unfamiliar with their new country's ways, their role and stature have been diminished. They have ended up depending on the younger Iu Mien to survive.

"I had difficulty adapting and I also had to help my community," he said.

With donations from other Iu Mien communities in the United States and private foundations, his organization purchased the Oakland site in 1986 and began drawing up plans for the center and the temple. The center is scheduled to be completed in 2004.

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"To create a real place that has traces of the history of a people, where people can get together, that's to create a very special place," Mayor Jerry Brown said before the ceremony. "It adds to the rich tapestry that is the city of Oakland." The Iu Mien also found an ally in Oakland City Councilman Larry Reid, a former Marine who worked with Iu Mien people on his tour of duty in Laos in 1969.

"They're an incredible group of people that I owe a lot to," he said. "It's a debt that can't be repaid. That's the least I could do for them."

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